ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about language development in one deaf child of deaf parents. The child, Alice, was exposed to and learned to communicate in language through American sign language (ASL), Sign English, fingerspelling, speech/ speechreading, sign print, and English orthographic print. The chapter examines some English print before instruction in school. Like many hearing children, Alice displayed considerable interest in print and in books and considered them a means of interacting socially with her family. Fingerspelling is used regularly as an adjunct to the sign systems and as a means of borrowing English words into ASL. The data were classified according to the varieties of language used: oral, ASL, Sign English, fingerspelling, Sign Print, and English Print. Alice revealed an expanded ability to learn language in one variety and transfer it to another to express both appropriate and inappropriate language.
